Bain Capital

For much of the presidential campaign so far, Mitt Romney has tried to glide above his Republican rivals - - engaging President Obama in his stump speeches while swatting away criticism from GOP contenders. But in sign of a tightening race in South Carolina, Romney shifted strategy during a midday rally at Wofford University Wednesday - needling GOP rival Newt Gingrich him as a lifelong politician and suggesting that he had little experience creating jobs. Arguing that Gingrich and Obama had taken the same line of attack by criticizing his work at the private equity firm Bain Capital - - which he likes to describe as an assault on "free enterprise" - - Romney pivoted to Gingrich's career in government and mocked job-creation claims made recently by the former House speaker.

Mitt Romney softened his attack on former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at a second rally Wednesday at Winthrop University. He chided the former House speaker for criticizing his private-sector experience, but omitted his charge from earlier in the day that Gingrich had exaggerated his record on job creation. Still, for the second time Wednesday, Romney pivoted from criticism of President Obama, who he said wanted to “replace ambition with envy” and “cause class warfare,” to his Republican foe, who is gaining in South Carolina polls.

We're down to the final five. With Jon Huntsman Jr.'s decision to go no further, the GOP presidential field has been pared down to front-runner Mitt Romney and four others desperate to find some way to slow his momentum. South Carolina remains the best hope for Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul or Rick Perry to pull off an upset. But to do it, they'll need to knock Romney off his game at Monday evening's debate in Myrtle Beach, S.C. There's risk involved. Gingrich and Perry have found that some conservatives haven't warmed to their attacks on Romney's work at Bain Capital.

Newt Gingrich defended the questions he's raised about Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital while Rick Perry called on the GOP front-runner to offer greater disclosure of his finances as the Republican presidential candidates began the first of two debates before what could be the decisive nominating contest in South Carolina on Saturday. Perry, the Texas governor, urged Romney to release his tax returns so that Republican voters could fully vet the candidate they will put up against President Obama this fall.

Jim Buchanan winced as he explained why Mitt Romney's business career made him uneasy. "I think he [as president] would be more, basically, out for himself — and not for us," said Buchanan, a regional manager here for Zaxby's fast-food chicken. Buchanan, who was filling a prescription at Wal-Mart, suspects there is some truth to TV ads and news reports about South Carolina job losses stemming from buyout deals that spawned millions of dollars in fees for Bain Capital, an investment firm once led by Romney.

A day after saying he wouldn't back down on criticizing Mitt Romney's tenure at Bain Capital, Newt Gingrich visited a town allegedly affected by Bain, and did not mention Romney or Bain at all, instead talking about the importance of bringing manufacturing back to South Carolina. In a town hall meeting at Land's End Restaurant in Georgetown, a town which Gingrich's "super PAC," Winning Our Future, used to criticize Bain for taking over a steel plant that then went bankrupt, Gingrich called on conservative voters to rally around him. "Only by gathering up all the conservatives to support Newt Gingrich will we ensure that we will have a conservative to be the Republican nominee," he said.

Defying calls to back off from attacking Mitt Romney's business record, Newt Gingrich said Saturday evening that he would visit a South Carolina town on Sunday to draw attention to steelworkers laid off in a corporate buyout deal that spun off millions of dollars in fees for his rival's investment firm. The former House speaker was confronted at a Fox News forum in Charleston, S.C., by an audience member asking how he defended his “vilification of companies that put capital at risk in order to save failing companies.” “I've never done that,” said Gingrich, who has been hammering Romney for days over money made by Romney's former investment firm, Bain Capital, in takeover deals that resulted in layoffs.

The group behind “King of Bain,” a 28-minute video attacking Mitt Romney's career at Bain Capital, has called on Romney to help identify errors in the film. Winning our Future, a “super PAC” backing Newt Gingrich, has used the film as the basis for attack ads airing on television in South Carolina, where the GOP primary campaign is in full gear. The film has been reviewed by a number of fact-checking organizations, which have concluded that it contains inaccuracies and distortions.

At Tommy's Country Ham House, a traditional stop for Republican candidates, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum passionately urged about 150 people tucking into a hearty breakfast not to be seduced into voting for Mitt Romney by party leaders and pundits who have concluded the front-runner is the most electable presidential contender. "Don't buy all this baloney that we need a moderate to win," he said after he laid out his argument that the former Massachusetts governor cannot capture conservative Democrats in key swing states, including his own. "We need someone with strong, core convictions.